Defining Enough

A question I have been reflecting on in my life recently is ‘When is Enough?’

I have a tendency to set myself goals, meet them, then immediately set new ones. And that’s ok but it’s also about knowing how far with something I really want to go and not forgetting the richness of the journey as that’s what life really is.

I thought of the following seven questions that could help define Enough.

1.????? What is the biggest version of this?

When we’re focusing on an area of our lives, do we really ask ourselves, what is the biggest version of this goal? Often, we can be so focused on the next step up the ladder or along the journey that we don’t define what the best end point for us might be.

These thoughts lead into asking:

2.????? Is it actually what I want?

-??????? Do I want a multi-million pound business or a lifestyle one which supports my own bills and endeavours?

-??????? Do I want to be a bit fitter or do I want to be competition-level fit?

-??????? Do I want career progression and, if so, how far is Enough? Is it right to CEO level?

Then, how do I define and articulate what I actually want?

Will I know it by a moment, like achieving the promotion?

Will it be defined by how my life will look every day? Or how I will spend my weeks?

Is it the proportion of time I will have available for different parts of my life?

Enough needs a shape.

3.????? Am I immediately setting new goals?

I have a tendency to set myself goals, meet them, then immediately set new ones.

When we have our Enough shape, we shouldn’t forget to honour and enjoy the progress made towards that shape. Pause for each achievement. Honour the richness of what we are creating.

It’s also a chance to continually ask: Is this still what I want? Did achieving this part of the goal give me the satisfaction I hoped it would?

4.????? When is Enough?

Most of us have multiple areas of life which are important to us: friends, family, work, hobbies, social life, other interests.

A good question is: how far down do I really want to go into this one particular aspect of my life? And how do I decide When is Enough in this area?

A good example is fitness, which might be measured by running distance, speed, weight you can lift, how many reps you can achieve.

A first question might be: are all of these things important? Because one ‘fitness’ goal can have many aspects.

Then it might be something like: How much weight do I actually want to be able to lift?

Is it just being able to lift a little bit more each time I try (incremental gains). Or am I aiming to reach competition level?

And what portion of my life am I prepared to give over to lifting to see how good I can get?

-??????? Am I prepared to dedicate more hours a day to build towards competitions?

-??????? Will I give up other interests to focus more time and energy on lifting?

-??????? Will I make other changes in my life to support lifting, like nutrition and sleep?

Ultimately, how far down this track/into this life area do I want to go? When is Enough?

This might be a question to repeat for each important area of life and assess how they all work together. We only have so much time and energy in a life!

5.????? Does it have to be now?

Big goals take time and effort to achieve. If I am working on something, do I have to do it now? Or can I achieve it through a 5- or 10-year plan?

Do I want to do a little bit of everything for a few years, or pick one thing at a time, finish it, then move onto the next thing?

We might want to ask ourselves as well: what if I never did it? If I didn’t do this thing, would I feel like I had achieved Enough with my life? Or would this be something I wished had been part of my legacy?

6.????? Enough, or too much?

Knowing when is Enough means also knowing when is too much.

How do I avoid burn-out and stress? What does Enough look like in this context?

This leads into the final, perhaps most difficult, question.

7.????? Am I the best judge of Enough?

Who can help me be an ear as I listen to my life and work out my Enough?

Who can help me define its shape?

Who can see when I’m on a track to nowhere?

Who can be my support partner to help me define, and honour, my Enough?

Do you know When is Enough for you?